It’s been a wild end of summer and beginning of fall in the sports world. And, after a month off, the GWR Sports Blog is back!

We have a ton of noteworthy achievements from the world of pro sports to catch up on, so let’s get right to some of the amazing accomplishments you may have missed the last two months.

FOOTBALL – AMERICAN STYLE

Four weeks into the NFL season, the new American pastime is roaring in full force, but the records have been falling since before the season even started.

We covered a couple potential and already-fallen NFL records in our season preview and – as predicted in that piece – Devin Hester has since broken the mark for most career return touchdowns with 20.

Two things not included in that piece: last month’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class had earned 55 all-pro selections among its seven inductees, the most ever.

And from hall of famers to guys just getting started, Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles offered a small glimmer of hope to a struggling Jaguars franchise. The rookie completed 78.4% of his passes in his first start for the Jags, going 29-of-37 for the highest completion percentage in an NFL quarterback’s debut start.

BYE BYE BASEBALL

Major League Baseball’s postseason has kicked off, but as the playoff teams fight for the World Series, a couple of impressive feats came about to close the season.

First, the New York Yankees. If you follow sports (or even if not) you may have heard that their iconic captain Derek Jeter retired following the season. He finishes with the most games played at shortstop for the same team and most career hits by a shortstop, with 2,747 and 3,465, respectively, in addition to a career record 158 postseason games played.

The Yankees also became the first team in MLB history to cross the 15,000 home run plateau, having hit the most ever with 15,005 at season’s end. Elsewhere in baseball, San Francisco Giants reliever/spot starter Yusmeiro Petit retired a record 46 consecutive batters across a month’s worth of appearances and the Texas Rangers used a record 64 different players this season, as injuries and poor performance decimated their roster.

GIRL POWER

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Plenty of impressive performances from the ladies of the sports world this month, including these three.

We start off with tennis star Sabine Lisicki, who received a GWR certificate prior to the US Open for her record fastest serve by a female at 131 mph (210.8 km/h).

Then we hand off to Brittney Griner. Griner has made in-game dunking routine since her college days at Baylor, but made history for the Phoenix Mercury by stuffing the first dunk in WNBA postseason history. Phoenix went on to win the WNBA Finals, and Griner’s historic slam served as a highlight along the way.

And already scary talented at such a frighteningly young age, 17-year-old American swimmer Katie Ledecky continues making dolphins blush. At the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Australia, she broke the records for the fastest 400- and 1500-meter freestyles by a female, taking her world record tally for 2014 up to an amazing five. Again, she’s not even old enough to vote.

SAILING INTO THE SUNSET

As official arbiters of records, we held a soft spot for the news of NBA referee Dick Bavetta announcing his retirement. The 74-year-old official may be most famous for his epic footrace against Charles Barkley a few years ago…

…but Bavetta made his name as the league’s refereeing stalwart, having officiated the most games overall in NBA history and the most consecutive, never missing a contest as he racked up 2,635 games with the whistle in a 39-year-career.

And with that, we’ll say goodbye for now too. Baseball playoffs, Champions League, and more sports action awaits us in a packed October. We’ll see what records await us next month!

The 60th Anniversary Diamond Edition of the Guinness World Records book is out now! Find out all about it and see record holders like the longest tongue at www.guinnessworldrecords.com/2015

And for the latest on all things world record, visit Guinness World Records on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and our brand-new Instagram. Plus check out Guinness World Records on YouTube to subscribe for the latest record-breaking videos!